The present invention relates to a pocket crimper for making an electrical connection to the metallic jacket layer of fiber optic cable and, more particularly, to a crimper tool that may be used with cables of any size, as well as in situations where a hand-held crimper cannot be used.
In the electronics industry there are many hand-held tools that must be utilized during the installation of fiber optic facilities. One of these tools is a hand-held crimper, This tool is used for making electrical connections between the metallic outer sheath layers of two separate pieces of fiber optic cable. The process as performed in the prior art involves using a specific type and size of crimping tool for each size of cable. Each cable first needs to be prepared by removing its outer poly (plastic;) coating to expose the underlying metallic sheath layer in the cable. Lugs are then fitted onto the ends of the cables and placed in the crimping tool. Each size of cable will require a specific die and specific lug to be placed into the crimping tool for securing the connection.
In most cases, the connection of the lug to the cable is made by using a hand-held crimping tool, where an individual applies pressure to a pair of handles to tighten the lugs onto the ends of the cable. This process works well in most cases, but there are situations that require a different approach to the crimping process. For example, some cables have an extremely large diameter (for example, up to 1xe2x80x3 in diameter), and a hand-held crimper is simply too small to effectively make a good crimped connection between the lug and the metallic sheath layer. In other situations, a hand-crimper lacks sufficient strength and a power-assisted crimper tool is too costly. There may be other situations where the use of a different approach than a hand-held crimper tool may be preferred.
The present invention relates to a pocket crimper for making an electrical connection to the metallic jacket layer of fiber optic cable and, more particularly, to a crimper tool that may be used with cables of any size, as well as in situations where a hand-held crimper cannot be used.
A pocket crimper of the present invention comprises a pair of relatively small rectangular or cube shaped blocks formed of a relatively strong material, such as heavy duty forged steel. Each block comprises a longitudinal trough for holding the fiber optic cable as it is being crimped, the troughs mating when one block is placed on top of the other. Each block also comprises a number of slots for holding various size dies that may be used for the crimping process. In particular, the crimping operation is performed by first placing the appropriate sized bottom die in the lower block. A lug is then inserted on the end of the stripped cable (exposing the metallic sheath layer) and the cable with the lug is laid on the trough so that the lug is positioned over the bottom die. The top block is then put in place over the bottom block (the trough in the top block allowing the cable to be enclosed without moving) and the appropriate sized die is inserted in the top block. A small hammer, or other similar object, is then used to strike the top die, which will then move downward and crimp the lug onto the metallic sheath of the fiber cable.
It is an aspect of the present invention that the trough in the blocks is sized to accommodate the various diameters of fiber optic cable that are deployed in the field. Thus, extremely large diameter cables that have heretofore been difficult to crimp with a hand-held device can easily be laid within the pocket crimper of the present invention and the associated lug attached to the cable. By including a plurality of different slots in each block of the crimper, dies of different sizes can easily be used.